Monday, September 15, 2008

Structure

Uh oh. The radiation treatments are over, thankfully, but now my daily structure is gone. I still have clients that I am seeing, and the usual weekly doctors' appointments, but that daily appointment at the same time with the cancer family at the cancer center has been kind of a grounding focus for me for the past two months, and I'm feeling a bit at loose ends. I need to find a gym, so perhaps I'll go visit the ones closest to me and check them out. I need to go thru my three filing cabinets filled with tons of useless paper I have been collecting for the past 40 years, but that's hard to do alone. I'm not done with the social security process yet, have to see their doc this week, and that's hanging over my head. I'm pretty sure I will be approved, but who knows. My appt. with the new knee doc isn't till the beginning of November, so I don't know what's up with possible surgery. I will be looking into some volunteer work and some classes of some sort, but I have to be careful not to overwhelm myself. Just take it one day at a time, and do what I can. I'm not a morning person, I get up around 9 or so usually, and it takes me a while to feel awake. I have to learn to tolerate the CPAP machine to see if that will help my energy, but I DON'T WANT TO. Today I just want to sit out in the sun and wind with the doggie-do, and maybe go to Agway and get more dog food. No, I WILL go to Agway to get more dog food, because I need it, and Bindi needs it.

I had a busy weekend. Thursday, I met an old friend, KH, for dinner at 116 to celebrate the end of my radiation treatments. I knew her decades ago, but we had fallen out of touch, till I reached out to her recently, for which she was supremely receptive. She has a little girl dog named Elvy. Friday M & S came over for dinner. I made S's faves: cauliflower, potatoes, and chicken tenders. M loved my Waldorf salad, the one my mom used to make, except I use yogurt instead of mayonnaise, and currants instead of raisins. Saturday I had dinner with my friend Peter, here from London for an academic thingie, and we had such a good time. What a stellar human. Sunday I went to my favorite bakery and hung out with the regulars and drank coffee (which still doesn't taste right to me) and ate a blueberry danish (also tasted weird) and read the New York Times. Then over to KH's for a visit, the first get together for Elvy and Bindi. We had them both on leashes but when they got close enough to one another, a fracas ensued, the leashes got entangled, lots of barking growling jumping till we separated them. By the end of the visit, things were better. Elvy was cautious, Bindi just wanted to play with her, so perhaps in time they will become more friendly. After all, my backdoor neighbors were so sure their dog would not take to Bindi, and after several gentle attempts at visiting Pudge, they can now hang out quite civilly with one another. It's Little Dude, the black and white cat, who patrols the territory and keeps Bindi in line.

Well, my last poo blog entry sure brought out the comments! I guess it's one of the universals that everyone can relate to, and esp. more if you have cats/dogs other pets and/or human babies, or a system of elimination yourself! Ha ha!

Watched Helen Mirren in "Elizabeth I," which I liked very much. She's an extraordinary actor.

Also, check out Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Years." The costumes alone are worth the view.

My trip to California is all planned and booked, and I have accommodations for Bindi with my dog trainer while I'm away. I'm looking forward to the trip.